The Defeated French Soldiers Coming Back from Russia (1812)

Title: Mit Mann und Ross und Wagen, so hat sie Gott geschlagen (With man and horse and carriage, it has beaten by God)
Artist: Arthur Kampf
Date: 1895

'Mit Mann und Ross und Wagen, so hat sie Gott geschlagen', which Arthur Kampf created in 1895, depicts the defeated French soldiers coming back (to Germany) from Russia in 1812. The painting 'Mit Mann und Ross und Wagen' has been in the possession of the ‘Schlesisches Museum für bildende Künste' in Breslau (Wroclaw, Poland), but is missing since 1922. 'Mit Mann und Ross und wagen, so hat sie Gott geschlagen' are also the first words of a German folksong from 1813. The song comments on a complete defeat of the French troops in Russia in 1812. Napoleon, the Emperor of France since 1804, defeated the German army in October 1806 at Jena and Auerstedt. After the defeat in Russia, it took another year before Germany was liberated from the French. In the Battle of Leipzig the foundation was created for the German Empire of 1871. The slogan 'Mit Mann und Roß und Wagen hat sie der Herr geschlagen“ was later used by the Nazis when they invaded Poland.

Source :

http://www.germanartgallery.eu/en/Webshop/0/product/info/Arthur_Kampf,_Mit_Mann_und_Ross_und_Wagen&id=209